Fading Flame
by reconghost5
Summary: Blake's newfound love with Yang has been the best of her life. She is finally happy for the first time in a long time. But what will happen when she finds out it isn't exactly what it seems on the surface? How will she react when she finds out her time with Yang may be very limited? BumbleBY. Modern AU. Sensitive subject topic and language.
1. Chapter 1

Blake enjoyed these times. Times like when she and her girlfriend would be in Blake's room. Blake would be reading or doing homework, and Yang would be cuddled up against her, more than likely asleep. Blake looked to the sleeping blonde, letting out a soft chuckle, shaking her head. She swore Yang was narcoleptic sometimes. Falling asleep in the class. The weird thing was that the teachers never seemed to mind it. She was new to the school this year, and Yang did seem to have a friendship with most of her teachers. So maybe Yang was always like this and they kinda just gave up on trying to keep Yang awake. She did manage to get good grades even without doing the homework. Something that always baffled Blake.

Yang kept swearing that the sleeping issue was because she would stay up until the ass end hours of the morning playing video games. Which also wouldn't surprise Blake. Yang doesn't really broadcast it, but she is in fact a very geeky individual. Having a large collection of video games and comic books. And on more than one occasion, Blake had ended up wearing one of Yang's Star Wars tee shirts to bed after she would leave them at her house because it smelt like Yang.

Blake looked over to the clock, sighing when she saw the time. She would have to be sending Yang home here in a few minutes. They had school the next morning and it was already almost midnight. She marked the page of her book, putting it on her nightstand before poking Yang's cheek. "Hey, sleeping beauty… wake up." Yang grumbled something incoherent before pulling herself closer to the faunus. Blake rolled her eyes, poking the blonde's cheek again. "Yang, get up. We have school tomorrow. You gotta go home."

"Can't I just stay here?" Yang manages to mumble out, tightening her hold on Blake. Opening one eye to her girlfriend, a hopeful look on her face.

Rolling her eyes again, Blake gave the girl a small smile. "As much as I'd love that, Yang, we can't. You know how we are. We'd get… distracted."

This caused Yang to smile, and she let out a small giggle. "Damn right we would."

Shaking her head again, the faunus runs her fingers through Yang's golden locks. "We need sleep. You need sleep."

"I just slept," Yang grumbles out.

"You need real sleep, Yang. Not just a nap."

The blonde sighs, moving into a sitting position. "Alright, fine."

"You know I don't think staying up late and playing games is the reason you're so tired Yang, I think it may be part of the reason, but most people would be used to it by now," Blake states, watching as a nervous look appears in Yang's lilac eyes.

"I'm fine, Blake. Don't worry yourself over me…"

"But I do worry. I'm your girlfriend, Yang." she reaches a hand forward, caressing Yang's cheek. "You can tell me anything."

The blonde sighs, smiling as she leans into Blake's touch. "I know, and everything is fine, Blake. Nothing is wrong. In fact, things are perfect."

She didn't buy the girl's words but reluctantly decided to accept it for now. Blake knew that Yang would tell her when she was ready. It's clear it was a sensitive topic to the blonde. "Okay, it's fine." she gives Yang a small smile before getting up to her feet. Yang following suit. She walked her girlfriend to the door, giving her a quick kiss before sending Yang on her way. She watched as Yang climbed into her old beat up truck. The vehicle making a loud rumble upon starting, getting louder as she began to accelerate. The sound diminished soon though as Yang drove off.

Walking back inside, Blake looked to her mother who was smiling at her. "What?" Blake asked, confused by her mother's expression.

Her mother looked back to her book. "Oh nothing sweetie, you two are just cute."

Blake turned a light shade of pink, pulling up the collar of the hoodie she stole from Yang up to her nose. Trying to hide her blush. "T-thanks mom…" she stuttered out, embarrassed before walking back to her room. Her mom giggling as she walks off.

XxxxXxxxX

The next morning was strange. Normally Yang would have messaged her to ask her who was driving today and give her a good morning. Blake let out a sigh and sat on the armrest of the couch, waiting for Yang to message her. She started to worry when she started calling Yang's phone and there was no answer.

Fed up, Blake grabbed her bag and threw it in her car, driving over the Yang's house. Once there, she saw her girlfriend's truck was still parked in the driveway. She grumbled to herself about Yang staying up late as she got out of her car. Blake made her way up to the house and began pounding on the front door, yelling out Yang's name. "Yang! Get your ass out of bed! I told you not to stay up late!" No answer. After a few more attempts, the faunus gave up, stalking back to her car, still grumbling. Getting in her car, she relaxed into the seat.

 _"Maybe she caught a ride with Weiss and Ruby."_ She lifted her phone, looking at her last message from Yang that was from yesterday about hanging out. _"No. That makes no sense. She would have said something to me."_ her worry began to grow, but she quickly tried to squash it. _"She's probably at school. Maybe she woke up in pissy mood. Had car troubles. Something..."_ Blake groaned as she started up her car, pulling out of the driveway and heading off to school.

Once at school, she was concerned to find Yang absent from their first class. Goodwitch didn't seem to concerned by it though. She just let out a small sigh and marked Yang absent. Normally when a student was absent or late she would grumble something about them being lazy. Maybe it had to do with the fact that Yang always slept in class and that she just didn't care or wasn't surprised by it.

As the day wore on slowly, Blake could hardly stay focused. She figured she would've heard something by now. Walking down the hall to lunch, she was pulled from her thoughts by someone calling her from behind. She turned her head to see Ruby jogging over to her. Finally. Maybe she could finally get some answers. Turning the rest of the way she didn't even wait for Ruby to stop before asking about Yang. "Ruby, where the hell is your sister?"

When Ruby stopped, she caught her breath for half a second before speaking. "That's why I'm here, Blake." Blake raised an eyebrow, concern still on her face. Ruby began to nervously gnaw on her lip. "It's Yang, Blake. She's in the hospital."

Blake's eye widened in terror. "What? W-what do you mean?"

"Dad had to take her there really really early this morning. She's really sick, Blake. Well, she has been really sick." Ruby played with the hem of her shirt, not wanting to make eye contact with her sister's girlfriend.

Blake's thoughts were racing. What did Ruby mean by sick? What was wrong with her? But most importantly… "is she okay?"

Ruby shook her head. "I dunno… I haven't heard from dad yet…" Ruby began to gnaw on her lip again. "She never told you then, did she?" Blake shook her head. "Makes sense. She doesn't even like to admit to herself."

"Ruby, what do you…" Ruby cut her off.

"I bet she told you it's because She's up late playing games all night… why she tired all the time. Am I right?" Blake nods, trying to say something only to be cut off again. "That's half the truth. She does do that sometimes. Really it's because her body is trying to fight it."

"Ruby!" Blake exclaimed a bit of desperation in her voice. "Please tell me. What the hell are you talking about?! What's wrong with Yang?!"

Ruby let out another sigh, biting hard into her lip before speaking. Her voice cracking as she does. "Blake… Yang is dying."


	2. Chapter 2

Blake gnawed furiously at her lip as she drove down the highway on her way into Dallas. She was glad Ruby managed to tell her what hospital Yang was in. Her mind raced at the speed of light. Ruby didn't tell her what exactly was wrong with her sister, just that Yang was dying. Blake could respect that, at least. It wasn't her place to tell. She wished Ruby had though. She hoped the whole deal was just over exaggeration.

She squeezed tightly around the steering wheel. Maybe Yang just got sick and Ruby was a little worried for her sister. No. That didn't make sense. Ruby said Yang had been like this for a while now. She seemed more nervous talking to Blake about it then worried for Yang. Though Blake could still detect the worry for her sister in Ruby's tone.

The sign for her exit came up and Blake popped on her blinker, merging into the exit lane. She got a faint taste of copper in her mouth. She must have nervously gnawed her lip raw. The next few minutes crawl on slowly as she nears the hospital. The sign for it comes into site and Blake pulls in, quickly finding a parking space.

Inside she walked up to the receptionist desk. The lady at the desk looked to her with a smile. "Hello, how can I help you?"

Blake gulped as she began to play with the hem of her shirt. "I'm here to see Yang Xiao Long."

The receptionist typed on her computer before looking back to the nervous girl. "Take the elevator to the third floor. Hang a left and enter through the set of double doors. The receptionist there with check you in as a guest."

Blake nodded and thanked the woman. Walking towards the elevator, she began to wonder: " _Why would there be another sign in desk? Maybe it's just a hospital thing,"_ she thought as she pressed the button for the elevator. She began to nervously tap her foot, the elevator taking forever to reach her. With a ding, the door finally opened. Blake stepped inside and pressed the button for the third floor. The ride up was equally as long it felt like as she leaned against the metal wall. She hugged herself tight as she thought more about what could possible be wrong.

She worked on regaining her composure when the doors opened. She stepped through, following the instructions the receptionist gave her. She spotted the double doors but froze when she saw the sign next to the door. A plastic blue sign with the words "Youth Cancer Ward" written across it in bold, white letters. Her eyes widened in horror as she reread the words multiple times.

She shook her head, snapping her back to reality. She pressed forward through the doors, slowly walking up to the reception desk there. The man at the desk looks up to her, pushing his glasses back up his nose. "Good afternoon. Can I help you?"

Blake held her breath, addressing the man: "Y-yes. I'm here to see Yang Xiao Long."

The man smiled. "Ah yes, Yang. Just checked in last night, if I'm correct." He looked at his computer before handing Blake a clipboard and pen. "Just sign your name right here and she's in room three-eleven."

Blake signed the paper and handed it back to the man, giving him a quick thank you before walking off the Yang's room. She stood in front of the door, hugging herself again, afraid of what she'd see once she opened the door. She tried her best to re-gather her courage, raising her hand and knocking three times on the heavy door.

It was muffled by the door, but soon came the voice Blake knew so well. "Come in." Blake raised an eyebrow. She sounded almost bored, not sick. Blake grasped the knob, turning it and walking into the room. She sucked in a bit of air when she spotted Yang. She sat cross legged on the hospital bed. A bored look on face as she pressed on the television remote, flipping through the channels. She looked pretty much like the girl Blake remembered. The only difference was that she was very pale as opposed to her usual bright and warm completion. She looked over to the faunus girl. Once Blake could see her face she saw the tired lines under Yang's eyes. A warm smile spread across the blonde's face. "Hey, Blake."

Blake didn't know what to do. She stood there, staring at her girlfriend, her Faunus ears flattening back on her head. It then hit her that she was visiting her girlfriend in a cancer ward. A wave of emotions flooded over Blake as she felt the sting of tears forming. "Why didn't you tell me?" she choked out.

Yang's smile fell, her arms falling into her lap. "I dunno… I guess I didn't want you to worry." she spoke it more like it was a rhetorical question. She watched as Blake slowly walked over to her. She full well was expecting a scolding for her negligence, but it never came. Instead she felt Blake pull her into a hug. "Blake?"

The raven haired girl pulled her girlfriend tighter to her. "I was worried when you would answer at all, and then when Ruby found me and told me you were here," she paused to let out a quick sob, prompting Yang to finally return the embrace. "It made me even more worried, dammit. What the hell happened Yang?"

The blonde sighed, rubbing Blake's back comfortingly. "I didn't have my phone. It's at home. Probably still on my bed."

"I meant what happened for you to end up here."

Yang mouthed an "oh" before speaking again. "Well… I had a stress induced reaction. Basically I got way too stressed and it caused an inflammation in the tumors and it caused me to pass out. Luckily I was out talking to dad when it happened, or else it could have ended badly."

"Tumors?" Blake spoke softly, Yang nodding in confirmation. "So you really do have cancer then?"

Yang nodded again, looking away from Blake. "I wanted to tell you, and I know I should have. I didn't want you worrying about me, Blake. I know I was wrong. Even dad said it was wrong to not tell you." The blonde bites her lip. "Me stressing over telling you is what triggered the reaction. I've been stressing about it for awhile now."

Blake's grip on Yang tightened. "Because of me?" she squeaked out.

"No, because I'm an idiot and just didn't tell you in the first place."

Blake didn't say anything after that, still taking in and processing the information Yang had told her. For several minutes she sat there, holding tight onto Yang. Finally she decided to start asking questions again. "What can they do about it?"

"Well," Yang began with a sigh. "They found it too late to just cut it out and wait to see what happens. That is partially my fault." This caused Blake to raise an eyebrow, pulling back from Yang. "Basically I was stubborn. Back around the Christmas before I met you, I started feeling, I dunno, off. But I was stubborn and just didn't tell anyone. Well around the middle of summer, I got a little worked up at some asshats who were picking on Ruby. They then started insulting me about my family. Specifically about Raven."

"Wait, they knew about that?" Blake questioned.

"Milford is a small town. Everyone knows about it. But I got worked up and it caused me to have a reaction. That's when the doctors found it."

Blake nodded as Yang spoke. "So then what can be done about it?"

Yang sighed again. "Two real options really. Either chemotherapy. Which if it works, I really don't wanna have to deal with the side effect of it. Then there is a really risky and really expensive surgery."

Blake frowned, her faunus ears folding back. "Then what are you gonna do?"

"I dunno," the blonde said with a shake of her head. "For now I can just continue to take my medication and continue on with my life."

"What," she began, biting her lip, "what are you chances?"

Yang bit her lip this time. "They say if i keep taking my medicine and keep my stress levels low," Yang paused, taking a breath, "they say I have a fifty percent chance of making it to this time next year."


End file.
